As Long As You Can
by iNvIsAbLe.inkblood
Summary: It had blood on its edges and was crumpled to the point of illegibility, but I could just barely make out the words that had been hastily written out..."Hold out as long as you can." Gelphie One-Shot


**Well hello there. If you have clicked on this story, which obviously you have, you may or may not recognize it. I posted a few months ago, when I was still called "mothermonstersElphaba." I took it down, along with everything else of mine when I planned to leave the site for good. But, now I'm back, and I wanted to put this story back up as my own personal welcome back gift to myself. With that said, go ahead and read on. **

I sprinted down through the courtyard, past the guards and past all the people screaming my name.

"Miss Glinda! Miss Glinda, have you heard?"

I ignored all the cheers and cries of joy. Because I didn't feel the way they did. I wanted to scream, and cry from pain. Because they had her; locked away in some horrible cellar, or in some tallest tower of some castle. Either way, they had her.

And I wanted her back.

I threw my body against the heavy wooden doors of Southstairs. That's where she was. I could hear her. I could feel her presence, the same way I had ever night when she walked into my room and we could be alone.

"Let me in! Let me in!" I slammed into the doors until they were opened.

"Lady Glinda! I'm sorry, but what's happening down there isn't suitable for-"

I pushed past the guard and ran into the prison.

"Lady Glinda! There are things down there that are not meant for lady's eyes!"

I didn't listen to a word he said.

I twisted my way down the stairs and corridors, until I was close enough to her to hear her pain. It was so muffled, but so true to her suffering that my heart immediately shattered into a million pieces.

At last, I skidded to a stop and the bottom of the stairs. I caught a sob in my throat and nearly collapsed to my knees.

"Elphie. Elphie, Elphie, my Elphie." I whispered. Finally, I wasted no more time and I ran to her.

I broke down in front of her, shaking my head and falling to the ground.

"My Elphie, my sweet, sweet, Elphaba. I'm sorry. I'm sorry."

Her hands- the tools of her love that had so sweetly touched me as I slept- were roughly chained together behind her back and attached to the wall. Her mouth, her lips, her tongue- the instruments that had allowed us to show _our_ love for the first time- were hidden behind a dirtied gag, keeping her wonderful voice and her tortured screams inside and away. Blood trickled from her forehead down her entire face, casting a crimson shadow over her beautiful emerald skin. Her gorgeous hazel eyes were closed, which frightened me to no end.

I slipped the gag off, exposing bruised and bleeding lips. There were cuts from where she had bit down to keep from screaming, and bruises from where she had been beaten when she couldn't hide the pain.

I rested my shaky hands on her cheeks, letting her blood run down over my fingers.

"Elphie…my Elphie…I'm sorry."

I leaned forward and pressed my lips against hers. I could taste blood on my tongue and feel her pain in my body. I wanted her back; to feel her skin move against mine, to let her hands walk over my breasts and her tongue dance in my throat.

Suddenly, green lips pushed back against mine. I opened my eyes in shock and brought my hands away from her face. She pulled back and blinked a few times, before grinning sheepishly and chuckling.

"Why the surprised look?" She whispered. My eyes widened and it took me a moment before I grabbed her face again and kissed her deeply. She smiled, but I could hear it was truly a grimace.

"I'm sorry!" I said hastily. "I didn't mean to hurt you."

"It's alright, it's alright."

"No, it's not." I shook my head. "I should have been more careful, to not let them see the bruises. Or…I could have taken us somewhere else for the spring, or-"

"Shhh, it's okay. It's not your fault. It was my choice- I came to _you, _my sweet. You did not give yourself those bruises, it was me." Elphaba shifted her tattered body towards me, her hazel eyes filled with love, but sleeked over with anguish.

"Yes, but I accepted it all!" I cried, and I wrapped my arms around her. She sighed and pressed her head into my neck. The smeared sanguine on her face warmed my skin…she was still bleeding.

"I love you, Elphie. And I'm so, so sorry."

"Stop apologizing, please." She mumbled into me.

I back away and really looked her over. Her gorgeous black dress was in threads, and where the fabric was broken were deep welts in her skin. With the blood smeared away, I could see how many cuts there were in her face. Her breathing was more labored than it should be, making her shake every time she inhaled.

But even on her knees, she was proud. Her back was as straight was she could manage, and neither her face nor eyes showed any signs of defeat.

"Glinda, you have to go." She whispered, as if saying it softly would make it less true. "I don't want to see them hurt you."

"They're not going to hurt me, and their not hurting _you _anymore." I rose to my feet and walked behind her. I could see how tightly the chains were wrapped around her, pulling her backwards into an inescapable death.

I bent down again and started undoing her binds.

"Glinda." She sighed.

"Dear Lurline…hold still, or they'll tighten more."

"Glinda." Her voice rose.

"Stop moving Elphie."

"Glinda, stop!" She yelled. I stiffened up and dragged my hands away from her.

"Just…stop."

"What is it?" I said sadly. I didn't want to hear her say it. I didn't want any of this to be true.

"Come here."

I walked to her again, tears threatening to spill over my eye lids. I sat down again, this time like a child not getting their way. Elphaba took a deep breath and shook her head, squeezing her eyes tightly together before coming forward and kissing me again. I savored the taste and clung to the passion, somehow knowing that this was it.

I started to shake as I worked my lips around hers. My eyes burned and I started crying again, and not because I was afraid for myself.

"Shhhh, shhh, it's alright. Don't cry, don't cry."

"I love you." I sobbed. I held her again, just weeping into her shoulder. She pressed something into my palm, and I squeezed her hands for what I knew was the last time.

"Hold out for me. Hold out as long as you can, my sweet." She whispered into my ear.

Footsteps rattled along the stones leading to Elphaba. My Wicked Witch looked towards the sound, and then kissed me hard again, and only for a second.

"Go." She whispered as she stopped. "Now!"

I scrambled to the side; around a corner and pressed my back against the wall so I could be as close to my Elphie as I could. I listened as her tormenters made their way down to her, and I felt her heart beat at the speed of mine.

"Well, there she is. It seems like you had a visitor too…spit it out. Who was it?"

"Do you really expect me to tell _you _bastards?"

There was the sound of skin hitting skin, and it made me flinch. I clenched my fists together, still not looking at what she had given me.

Someone unsheathed a blade, and Elphie held her breath. I caught mine in my throat.

"Tell us, Witch."

"Get away from me." She was strong. They would never break her, and that's just one reason why I loved her.

"Fine." The man spat. Then I heard the horrible sound of a dagger entering a body. Elphaba gasped and started fighting for her breath, while I clamped a hand over my mouth and started weeping again. The dagger was yanked out of her, and there was a moment of silence accompanied by Elphie's labored breathing.

"You had your chance." The sound of chains rattling drowned out my single escaped sob.

"Let's go- we'll get her body later."

With that they left, and Elphie's breathing started to become quieter.

I crawled over to her, seeing that they had unchained her and she was lying on the floor, clutching her stomach.

"Elphie, hold on for me." I pulled her into my lap and supported her failing body. She was wheezing heavily, and when she pulled her hand off her body, it was covered in blood.

"Elphie…please….you're alright." She shook her head at me. "Yes, you are…will you hold out for me?"

"I'm sorry." She managed to get those words out as her skin got paler and more blood ran onto the floor. I held her there for as long as I could, suppressing my sadness so I could be strong for her in _her _final moments.

Elphaba started shaking violently and grabbed my hand. She shut her eyes tightly and put her remaining arm across her abdomen.

"It's okay, it's okay. Calm down…you can let go now, alright? They won't come back to hurt you, I promise. I won't let them. "

"You can't- tell- anyone. Not about…me, or…us, or who…we ever were." She twisted and curled in pain, but she didn't make any more noise than a gasp. "Can you-promise me that?"

"I promise." I nodded and squeezed her hand. "I love you." I leaned down closer to her and kissed her forehead. I felt her small, sharp breaths against my neck, and as I pulled my head away from her, the breathing stopped. Her hand, still clutched in mine, went limp and her body relaxed.

I hugged her corpse, feeling her as she grew continuously colder and her soul moved farther away from me. I wanted to be with her; that's all I wanted. I would not and could not live without her by my side.

I laid her body down, scanning the bloodied floor for something…anything. Anything that would bring me closer to her.

At last, something silver surfaced from the spill on the ground. It was the knife that ended her…and it would be the knife that ended me as well.

I grasped the blade in my hand, examining it carefully. But as I picked it up, something fell from my palm. A paper; a single slip of paper. It had blood on its edges and was crumpled to the point of illegibility, but I could just barely make out the words that had been hastily written out.

_Hold out as long as you can _

She had known. She had known she was going to die, and how much I loved her. I was a coward if I failed her now.

I picked up the knife and the paper and walked out of the prison, taking one last look at Elphaba before she was taken away forever.

"I'll hold out for you." I said out loud. "As long as I can."

_One year later, on the anniversary of the Witch's death, Glinda the Good was found in her private chambers, lying dead on the floor. It was officially determined that the Lady of Goodness had committed suicide. The only items found at the scene of her death were a silver knife, and a small slip of paper reading "Hold out as long as you can." _


End file.
